Alvarez and Argentina

The small insectivore Alvarezsaurus calvoi was a bipedal theropod with a long tail that was built like a running machine. The little speedsters ran around Argentina from approximately 86 - 83 million years ago. Having been described as an avian-line theropod and as a non-avian theropod, Alvarezsaurus has had a strange past, taxonomically. Despite these difficulties Alvarezsaurus is an interesting dinosaur in an interesting position of the tree of life. As a relatively complete fossil, the skeletal anatomy of Alvarezsaurus is highly informative, regardless of the direction of the resulting tree branches that follow Alvarezsaurus.

©Karkemish